Daily Times

Call it a failure of the judicial system or a way for vindication, military courts have been established, and the debate on the 21st amendment is subsiding as more and more cases are being transferred to them. All is set for the trial of three facilitators in the Safoora Goth bus massacre under military courts, nearly a year after the incident. The Sindh High Court dismissed the petitions against the transfer of the cases to military courts from antiterrorism courts. Five other accused including Saad Aziz and Tahir Minhas, have been sentenced to death by a military court for killing 45 Shia Ismaili community members. Families of alleged petitioners had petitioned in the Sindh High Court in the apprehension of violation of the right to fair trial. The court has dismissed the appeals having assured the petitioners’ counsel of a fair trial. Furthermore, the bench stated that the decisions of the military courts were also subject to a judicial review by the High Courts and the Supreme Court, and persons convicted by military courts can approach the superior court if they could establish that either the trial was mala fide or without jurisdiction.

Considering the sensitivity of the incident, the court has made the right decision to transfer the cases to military courts, as they have been established with the purpose of trying hardcore terrorists after the 21st amendment in the constitution of Pakistan. Furthermore, due to gravity of the issue, some judges of antiterrorism court have also made their reservations known. Since the identity of judges in military courts is not revealed, military tribunals are placed in a better position to tackle such cases.

Despite the efficiency of military courts and the gravity of the issue, the alleged facilitators of the incident should have a fair trial without any discrimination. The authorised law officers had told the judges that all legal and constitutional formalities were followed in letter and in spirit, and the legal committee had found the case fit to be tried in a military court, and had pleaded that such petitions were tactics for delaying the high-profile case. Despite the pressure from government and the gravity of the crime, the right to a fair trial should be given to all alleged criminals under the Article 10-A of the constitution of Pakistan. *